Paint applicator



Sept. 4, 1956 F. BRIDGFORD PAINT APPLICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 v fled fiwggfowd BY W a? Sept. 4, 1956 F. BRIDGFORD PAINT APPLICATOR Filed Jan. 22, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofi ice 2,761,167 Patented Sept. 4, 1956 PAINT APPLICATOR Fred Bridgford, Kewanee, Ill. Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,644 2 Claims. (Cl. -244) This invention relates to a paint applicator of a generally cylindrical type which may be rolled or actuated over a surface to which paint is to be applied.

More specifically the present invention is directed to a roller type of paint applicator which incorporates features whereby this particular form of applicator may be used specifically for painting wire fences of the chainlink type.

Many forms of roller type paint applicators have been devised for floating paint on to generally flat surfaces but the use of such roller type applicators has been confined to painting of large flat surfaces merely as another method to more quickly apply paint thereto than with the normal brush method.

The painting of a wire fence has always proven to be a very tedious job, particularly when being accomplished with the use of a conventional brush to apply the paint thereto. Furthermore, many methods have been tried whereby fences of this kind were painted through the use of spray guns and the like. This latter method is very wasteful and requires backdrops and other accessories to catch the excess paint that is blown into the air between the respective wires of the fence.

It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide an appropriate hand tool which is specifically adapted to the painting of fences without the excessive waste of paint accompanying the spray method, but i which applicator is also a great time saver comparable to the ordinary paint brush method.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a roller of this character wherein the entire roller throughout provides a paint reservoir presenting a relatively large volume of material for holding the paint during use and for transfer on to the respective wires of a fence.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a roller as a reservoir which may be made of a suitable plastic material such as vinyl or what is commercially known as Ivalon. The material need not be limited particularly to the aforementioned plastic, and the roller may be made of porous rubber, foam rubber, or generally from any material of a porous-like cellular nature and of a deformable character.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means for regulating the depth application of the roller to thereby provide a flow control for the paint by controlling the amount of deformation of the roller body while in use.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a sectionalized or divided body roller having a plurality of coacting parts between which one or more of the fence wires may be received during the use of the roller on the fence.

All other objects and advantages relating to the paint applicator of the present invention shall hereinafter appear in the following detailed specification having reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodirnent of the paint applicator;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the applicator and its method of use While painting a chain-like wire fence;

Fig. 3 is an axial cross sectional view of the roller illustrated in Fig. 1 to show the general internal construction thereof;

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross sectional view of the applicator roller substantially as seen along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified arrangement of a roller and a spool core to illustrate another construction thereof;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are more or less diagrammatic views to illustrate the method of operation of the roller of the present construction while the same is being used to coat the various elements of a fence or similar structure;

Fig. 9 is a view of another construction of paint roller wherein the supporting unit thereof provides a paint feed tube which may be connected with a suitable pump or compressor to supply paint thereto; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of the applicator roller used in the Fig. 9 construction with certain parts thereof illustrated in section to better show the arrangement of the parts used in this modification.

Referring to Fig. 1, the entire tool primarily consists of an applicator roller I mounted upon a support 2 form ing a portion of the rod bracket 3 which is oifset at 4 to provide a vertical stem 5 for fixed connection with a handle 6. The applicator roller 1 is flanked by suitable depth control discs or washers 7 and 8 with the Washer 8 being carried in abutting relation to an annular stop 9 that is welded or otherwise secured at Ill to the support 2 of the rod bracket 3. A suitable cap screw 11 is threaded into the terminal end 12 of the support 2 to hold a depth control disc or washer 7 in place upon such end 12. The applicator roller 1 is confined between the two depth units comprising the washers 7 and 8 and preferably a sleeve 13 is also carried between the members 7 and 8 for the purpose of turning with the body of the applicator roller 1 while the roller is rotated upon the support 2. In this construction, the sleeve 13, therefore, provides a means to reduce the friction between the roller and the support by preventing surface contact of the support 2 by the material of the roller 1.

As best seen in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the applicator roller is made with a solid body of fluid saturable porous cellular and deformable material like vinyl plastic or Ivalon, and the roller comprises principally a central reservoir core 14 surrounded by an annular sectioned or contiguously but divided peripheral surface comprising a plurality of parts such as 15, 16 and 17. The sec tional or divisional parts of the periphery of the applicator roller 1 are formed therein by sawcuts or circumferential slits extending radially inwardly establishing the radially disposed divisions such as 18 and 119 and the sawcuts are formed into the roller body to a predetermined depth and in a predetermined terminal relation radially of the body and with respect to the depth control washers 7 and 8.

In other words, the distance from the axial center of the support 2, taken radially to the annular termini 20 and 21 of the sawcuts or divisions, is greater than the radii of the two discs 7 and 8, so that in actual use the roller 1 can be applied with the divisions 18 or 19 straddling a wire and to permit a certain amount of compression or deformation of the slot ends radially inwardly as limited by the circumferential surfaces of the discs 7 and 8. In other words, the bottoms of the slits wiil lie radially outwardly beyond the radii of the discs. This produces a very effective painting action.

As best illustrated in Fig. 2, the applicator tool may be used on one side of the fence as shown in the full line position with the roller following the wires that are angularly disposed in one direction. The same tool may be used on the opposite side of the fence as required, by operating the same tool across the rear side of the fence as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2 and following the angularities of the wires in the other direction of the chain-link wire. Furthermore, the number of divisions formed in the body of the roller may be varied as desired for certain conditions of operation.

One such variation is illustrated in Fig. 5 which shows a modified construction of paint applicator roller 22 which provides an annular paint core reservoir 23 and which is circumscribed with slits such as 24 and 25 that may be spaced a distance apart substantially equal to the spacings of fence wires such as illustrated in Fig. 2. In this latter construction, the roller 22 presents a sectionlike unit having a heavy central annular part 26 flanked by narrower annular sections 27 and 23.

The roller illustrated in Fig. 3 can be replaced by removing the cap screw 11, removing the washer 7 from the support 2, and slipping the applicator roller 1 off of the sleeve 13, placing a new roller on the sleeve 13 and reassembling the unit. In the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, the applicator roller 22 is carried upon a central spool 2% comprising a sleeve 30 with end discs 31 and 32. The discs 31 and 32 in this case provide the depth control means to prevent too great a deformation of the roller while in use. Furthermore, this entire unit is replaceable as a unit and can be confined between such an abutment ring as N in Fig. 3 and the cap screw also there shown.

By providing a fluid applicator having a body constructed from a fluid saturable porous cellular and deformable material with a sectional peripheral contour and with a central fluid reservoir core, it is possible to quickly and feasibly paint fences of the wire type and for example such as the chain-link wire kind of a fence. By referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the exact function of this paint applicator unit may be better understood. Figs. 6 and 7 portray the use of the applicator as it is run along a single wire in one of the divisions thereof. In Fig. 6, it will be noted that the wire strand 33 is carried within one of the sawcuts or divisions of the roller to a depth as determined by the depth control means 8 which depth is presumably limited by another wire portion of the same fence in the same plane. Here it is seen that the central reservoir part or core 14 of the reservoir roller 1 is deformed substantially as shown to spread out along the wire, and that the wire is actually subjected to a dual painting action which occurs at the points 34 and 35 as the roller 1 is moved along such wire while being pressed downwardly thereagainst through the handle and bracket member carrying the roller. The same action can be seen in Fig. 7 which shows the spongy material of the roller compressed radially inwardly by the wire 33 to obtain a lateral pinching as designated by the arrows 36 with the roller sections being deformed radially inwardly as shown by the arrows 37, thus deforming the outer normal cylindrical surfaces of the adjacent sectional parts of the roller. In this way, the wire 33 is substantially surrounded by the material of the roller and through actual squeezing action or capillary action paint is supplied and transferred to the wire about the entire surface thereof.

By referring to Fig. 8, it should be noted that the same roller is diagrammatically illustrated in a plane removed from the sawcut areas thereof to show the body part of any one of the divisions 15, 16 or 17 as entering between the cross wires 33 of a fence such as illustrated in Fig. 2. By cross wires reference is being made to the wires which are in the path of the roller as the latter is moved along the wires such as 39 which are parallel to the direction of motion of the roller. Therefore, from Fig. 8 it is seen that the deformation of the roller will also act to coat the cross Wires such as 38 with paint While wires such as 39 are engaged between the divisions of the roller. it should be further understood that as the roller 1 shown in Fig. 8 is moved along the wire fence, that the pliable roller material will actually flow into each of the respective openings between the Wires forming a varying shape of bulge such as 4!) as the roller moves from one space opening 41 between the wires to the next successive opening 41 thereof. This produces, so to speak, a continuous pop of the roller material into each of the successive spaces in the wire fence leaving the painted wires behind by reason of the deformation of the roller and by reason of the contact of the wires Within the sectional or divided parts thereof. All this is definitely controlled by the depth control washers 7 and 8 to prevent excess or heavy paint flow which might be the case if the operator exerts excessive pressure as he moves the roller along the fence being painted.

The explained functions of the applicator roller individually or in combination are all enhanced by the lateral pliability and bodily flexing of the roller per se and flexing of the adjacently and axially arranged sectional parts thereof, the latter being diagrammatically shown in broken lines in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the roller is compressible and again expaudible to its normally inactive contour and inoperative contour.

The rollers previously described are made to obtain their paint supply by dipping such rollers into a supply of paint and by rolling such paint on to a wire fence or other irregular surface that is being painted by such roller.

In Figs. 9 and 10 a form of paint applicator tool is being illustrated wherein the applicator roller 42 is carried upon a hollow support 43 of a hollow shank 44 that connects through a hollow handle 45 to a suitable paint supply hose 46 which receives a continuous flow of paint from a pump or other compressor unit 47 that is arranged to continually supply paint to the applicator structure. This arrangement also contemplates the use of a flow control valve 48 which can be regulated to provide a definite amount of paint feed to the roller commensurate with the speed of use thereof and with the particular paint requirements of the surface being coated.

In this construction the roller is best illustrated in Fig. 10 and comprises the sectional applicator roller 42 which is directly carried for rotation upon the hollow support 43. In this construction, the hollow support 43 is provided with suitable paint feed openings or ports such as 49 that are preferably located in the central region between the depth control washers 50 and 51 with the end of the, tubular paint supply support 43 being sealed by means of a screw or bolt 52.

By arranging the paint discharge openings 49 centrally of the roller area, the paint is fed through the openings into the core reservoir 53 of the roller for capillary distribution therethrough. Suitable rings such as 54 and 55 or similar mechanisms may be employed at either side of the openings 49- to counteract capillary flow along the surface of the support 43 and to more particularly direct the flow of paint centrally into the reservoir core 53 of the roller 42.

With this latter construction of roller, the roller is preferably made with an opening 56 which is smaller in diameter than the outer diameter of the support 43 to thus provide a wiping action between the body of the roller surrounding the bore 56 and the paint supply tube 43.- as the roller is. used and rotated while painting a fence. This will enhance the paint distribution throughout the, body of the roller and provide an efficient and continuously usable applicator for painting irregular surfaces such as the parts of a chain-like wire fence.

Cooperative sleeves such as 13 in Fig. 3 and the spool sleeve Ml in Fig. 5 may also be perforated for use on a hollow support such as 43 in Fig. 10 if deemed desirable.

Other modifications and changes in the various parts and in the arrangement thereof are contemplated. All such deviations and modifications shall be governed by the breadth and scope of the inventive concept as set forth. in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A paint applicator for Wire fences having spaced parallel strands, comprising a handle, a deformable resilient fluid-saturable cylindrical roller rotatably carried by said handle for rotation about the axis of said roller, relatively rigid discs of substantially equal radii less than that of said roller coaxial with said roller at opposite ends thereof, said roller containing a circumferential slit extending radially inwardly the bottom of which lies radially outwardly beyond the radii of said discs.

2. A paint applicator as set forth in claim 1, wherein said roller contains a plurality of circumferential slits extending radially inwardly the bottoms of which lie radially outwardly beyond the radii of said discs, said slits being axially spaced to correspond with the spacing between adjacent fence strands.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,638,340 Kennedy Aug. 9, 1927 2,247,874 Crites July 1, 1941 2,287,768 Eckstein June 30, 1942 2,378,900 Adams June 26, 1945 2,591,530 Findley Apr. 1, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 39,795 France Dec. 3, 1931 (1st addition to No. 685,359) 430,928 Italy Feb. 20, 1948 874,496 France May 4, 1942 

